She photographed Owl Farm and made Hunter S. Thompson’s breakfast at eleven at night. Twenty years later, Chloe Sells talks acid, communal weed, AI and peanut butter Bloody Marys.
This article originally appeared in High Times’ Spring/Summer 2026 print edition. Get yours here.
A feline skull surrounded by dark and dead leaves. Sunlight seeping through tree branches in impossible colors. A blurry desert landscape juxtaposed with vibrant halftones. A torn note that reads ‘Rage, Rage Against the coming of the Light’.
Such are the images Chloe Sells gifts us: vivid landscapes that feel both otherworldly and familiar, impossible yet natural, at once raw and carefully edited.
Born and raised among Aspen’s mountains, in the midst of a thriving psychedelic community, it’s no wonder her creations reflect a sensitivity for boundless sceneries and trippy, experimental methods. Some may know Sells for her brief (but intense) period as Hunter S. Thompson’s personal assistant at the time of his death, or for her unorthodox documentation of his home.
So we had a chat with the nomad photographer, about simple, pedestrian topics such as the power of entheogens, paths to enlightenment, the perils of AI, the politics of beauty, and her slice of time with one of the most riveting writers in history. And more importantly, his taste in breakfast.
Trips of All Sorts
High Times: Do you remember the first time you tried weed?
Chloe Sells: Not really. Kind of. I think I was 13 or 14. I didn’t get stoned the first time, I remember that… I remember thinking I would never forget, but I can’t really remember it now.
HT: And psychedelics?
CS: Same. I don’t remember the first time I took psychedelics, but I started taking mushrooms pretty extensively as a teenager. Then I started …
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Author: Marian Venini / High Times
